Before me is an expansive, arid landscape—a realm of valleys, chasms, and crevasses, of steep cliffs and dusty soil, framed by distant mountains. It might as well be on the moon itself, save for the scattered scrub, azure sky, and occasional rattlesnake.

Not too far back, on the dirt road, you can spot a signpost: LUNAR VEHICLE TEST SITE. This is no ordinary patch of desert. “I get to come out here and drive space trucks,” says Justin Cyrus, the CEO of Lunar Outpost, with a grin, surveying his playground.

A prototype of a vehicle he hopes to send to the actual moon stands nearby, its platinum-hued paint gleaming in the sun. It’s adorned with top-mounted solar panels, wide side radiators to reemit that scorching dayside lunar heat away from the vehicle, flat work benches, and various type

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